All posts tagged: hawksmoor

St John St is a busy street, and in a very good way. Home to St John’s restaurant (from Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver), and also wine bar & restaurant Vinoteca (across the road), with Bistro Bruno Loubet (which I have eaten at 3 times but neglected to blog, a huge oversight), and The Zetter Townhouse around the corner (one of my favourite spots for drinks and bar snacks). There are lots more and I could type all day, but my point is, that this isn’t an area that has been crying out for great new restaurants. This hasn’t stopped the Hawksmoor team from taking a stab at it, and given their pedigree (I am a fan of their Hawksmoor steakhouses and bar), I was curious as to what they planned to deliver and how. I knew that this wasn’t going to be another Hawksmoor, but I was expecting it to be quite meaty. And so it was. In a very good way.

Will she every shut up about the blaggers’ banquet? Will she?! Afraid not folks, at least not for the short term, until we’ve finished our online auction in a couple of weeks and raised lots of money for that fantastic charity Action Against Hunger, I guess we could call this Auction Against Hunger (boom boom!). But seriously, even if this were not for charity, and you’re of a scrooge like disposition, which I am positively certain you’re not, we’ve had some fantastic donations, and lots more to come. Make your xmas shopping fun and eclectic! Instead of buying your sister that goat again, what about a Sashimi Masterclass with 7 course tasting menu at Feng Sushi and it’s ALL for charity. It’s a gift for your conscience as well as them. A little too much? Well, I’m serious. A kitchenaid for your other half? Did I mention it’s pear green. Afternoon tea at the Ritz for your Mum? A Selfridge’s Gordons Choice Hamper, or the delectable White Christmas Tea Collection from our favourite tea lady …

And so the banquet has come and gone. A flurry of activity followed by a burst of food and drink, leaving us all feeling fragile and happy, and keen to do it again. As you know, I was not a diner, but a worker bee. And as a result of this, and the fact that my lovely digital SLR camera was stolen recently, I have no photos, but we did have a volunteer blogger photograper on the night (Mark of Food by Mark) and so I can share some of his. The lead up to the banquet was frenzied, but supported by the wonderful Sig of Scandilicious managing the kitchen (read her fantastic build up post here) and a crack team of enthusiasts managing the other aspects – Kavey on ticketing, Susie & Ailbhe on the Goodie Bags, Denise on the wines, Mathilde on the auction and Linda on the organisational aspects behind delivery and ingredients – we could only succeed. Not to undermine the work anyone did on the day, it was a superb …

So… it’s two days to D Day or should that be B Day? Are we all blagged out? Certainly not! Things are shaping up really nicely. Hawksmoor have been fantastically supportive, how very brave of them to let us run a restaurant there! Hats off. We have great food, details of which I will not reveal here, but suffice to say that there are lovely aperitifs and canapes on arrival at 5.30pm with live music, and 4 further courses, crafted with our fair hands, using fantastic donated produce and all drinks are included. The drinks are superb, we have lovely wines and artisan beers & spirits, many of which are boutique items, at the very least they have fine credentials and taste wonderful. We’ll be making cocktails, we’re extremely fussy about these ones, so expect good things. There’s an excellent goodie bag for everyone at the end, a raffle and an auction of superb food and drink experiences and other much sought after items, alot of which have been crafted especially for the event. The …

Tickets are on sale now for the Blaggers’ Banquet in pairs for £150 and one table of 5 for £375. 5 pairs of tickets will be auctioned starting from £75. The Banquet meu details will be revealed on the night, expect 5 lovely courses with drinks and lots of fun. Buy your tickets here: http://bit.ly/19WuSA

Well, the blaggers’ banquet is all systems go and we’re blagging like k-razy. We’ve had an amazing and very supportive response from producers, restaurants, chefs, wineries, breweries… it’s been really inspiring. Everyone’s really pulled together and gotten things done. Wonderful. We had our first meeting at the new Draft House on Northcote Rd, who donated the whole bar for the evening which was wonderful. This helped galvanise everyone and get things moving bringing us nicely to where we are now. We had a great evening drinking Murphy’s of Cork on draught and blackberry whiskey with some fantastic bar food – I’ll be back for sure. We’ve have some fantastic donations since, both for the meal and for the night itself. We’re not going to spoil it by revealing anything for the meal or everything from the auction, but here’s a taster of some of auction items. The auction will run partially on the night and for a month after the banquet online, so, even if you’re not in London or not at Hawksmoor on the …

It’s time to reveal the details surrounding the Action Against Hunger Bloggers’ Fundraiser. On November 15th, we will be taking over Hawksmoor, the revered steakhouse in Liverpool St, for the blaggers’ banquet. This will be an exciting dinner created entirely by bloggers and using only food that they have blagged and that they themselves will cook and serve. There will also be a blaggers’ auction, where we will be auctioning exciting items we’ve blagged. This auction will be two fold, a portion of it on the night, and the rest in the weeks following. Further details relating to the auction will be announced as they become available. We’ve got just over three weeks to pull all of this off but we do love a challenge. All proceeds go to Action Against Hunger too, a great cause (more on them here). PRODUCERS: Want to donate some produce? Food, drink, items for the auction? It might be a good way to get your products seen by thousands of blog followers and sampled by the lucky few who …

The Hawksmoor Burger. Everyone loves it. Often touted as the best burger in London by the food bloggerati, I had to try it. Fast forward to a Friday lunchtime and a decadent solo lunch. Not everyone loves solo lunches, but I do. Every now and then, there’s nothing nicer than being very nice to yourself, allowing yourself some quiet time. You, a nice meal and a glass of nice wine in nice surroundings. Enter a book that’s grabbed your attention, and for me, that’s a perfect couple of hours. Of course, I also love more gregarious ones, they’re the most fun of all, but life’s about balance and contrast and to appreciate one you need the other. Hawksmoor at lunchtime on Fridays is busy. Very busy. Lots of people, lots of chat, lots of steak on the tables and lots of people drinking wine. I like it. I seat myself at the bar and on the barman’s recommendation (I told him I would be ordering the burger and would like a red wine with body but also some …